Friday, June 9, 2017

Staunton, June 9 – Since 1945,
Moscow has been involved in approximately 50 military conflicts abroad, most of
which it denied at the same but 39 of which Soviet and Russian officials
eventually acknowledged and of which are now officially recognized in the
Russian law “about veterans,” Yury Khristenzen says.

The process by which these conflicts
shift from the category of being officialy denied to be officially admitted is
never quick or easy, but it now appears to be beginning with regard to Vladimir
Putin’s actions against Ukraine over the last four years, the Moscow
commentator continues (kasparov.ru/material.php?id=593976CBB3A40).

Speaking at a parliamentary hearing this
week on preventing foreign interference in the domestic affairs of the Russian
Federation, Federation Council President Valentina Matviyenko in a speech she
read made some interesting comments about the nature of hybrid wars in general
that open the way to a reconsideration of what Russia has been doing in
Ukraine.

“Hybrid wars, the goal of which is
undermining the sovereignty of states and the subordination of their domestic and
foreign policy has become the reality of our time,” the speaker said.She even cited events in Ukraine. And this is
“already progress” because “only one step remains to acknowledge who precisely
undermined Ukraine’s state sovereignty.”

Matviyenko also made an intriguing
remark about the downing of the Malaysian airliner, MH17.She suggested that the formation of an
international tribunal to investigate the shooting down of that plane
represented an attempt to interfere in the domestic affairs of the Russian
Federation.

Her comments are important for two
reasons. On the one hand, Matviyenko who speaks Ukrainian used the preposition “na”
instead of “v” which has been the universal practice of Moscow spokespeople
since 2014.And on the other, talking
about the tribunal as interference in Russia’s internal affairs opens the door
to bigger questions.

The notion that the Netherlands
tribunal touches on the internal affairs of Russia, Khristenzen says, is “one
step” toward acknowledging that the Kremlin was involved in what the tribunal
is investigating.And “after such recognitions
will be made, everything will be in its right place.”

“It will become clear who shot down
the MH17 and who is conducting a hybrid war against Ukraine,” the commentator
says. “These will be one and the same people. All the events of recent years
follow in the same logical chain … the Kremlin is conducting hybrid wars” and
that will eventually be acknowledged even by Moscow.

In 2000, Khristenzen concludes, “specialists
in hybrid wars came to power in the Russian Federation.” The members of Russia’s
Security Council have 82 years of experience in the KGB and 140 years work in
the totalitarian institutions of the USSR. They brought to their new positions these
experiences and mindsets.

Putin is one of them, and Matviyenko’s
speech brings Moscow closer to an acknowledgement of that as well.